Don’t Ruin My Childhood’s Legacy – The Problem with Reboots, Spinoffs, and Remakes

In my 22+ years of life, I’ve seen many trends come and go, classic TV shows take their final bow, the birth of Instagram, the rising popularity of social media, and the rebirth of childhood shows through modernization. I’ve spent most of last year complaining that I never got to see Def Leppard in Vegas, Bon Jovi with Richie Sambora, and AC/DC with Malcolm Young, that I forgot about how lucky I was to have experienced such childhood classics. Those include Blue’s Clues (1996 – 2006), Clifford the Big Red Dog (2000 – 2003), Barney & Friends (1992 – 2010), Go, Diego, Go! (2005 – 2011), Dragon Tales (1999 – 2005), and The Wiggles. In order to stay sane, I have to keep reminding myself to be grateful for what I have and the things that I’ve experienced. I was lucky enough to experience such classic Disney films too, before the Walt Disney Company ruined them with all of these live-action remakes. 

That’s a perfect segway into today’s post, the problem with reboots, spinoffs, and remakes. Of course, the obvious reason is that the original movie/series is always going to be better. I’ll use Girl Meets World (2014 – 2017) as an example because it didn’t capture the magic and learning experience of the show it was based on, Boy Meets World (1993 – 2000). Girl Meets World had a few good lessons, my favorite being people change people, but I felt like a majority of the show focused on the love triangle between Riley, Maya, and Lucas; that fiasco began in the second season and ended in the last season. Let’s be real, the highlight of the show was seeing Topanga, Cory, Shawn, and Eric as adults. 

Fuller House (2016 – 2020) was based on my favorite show of all time, Full House (1987 – 1995), and honestly, it wasn’t necessary. Besides the fact that they made the show too modern by adding cell phones, social media, and Billie Eilish, it didn’t cover the same intense topics that its predecessor covered. Full House covered drunk driving, smoking, peer pressure, death, bullying, learning to drive, and body image; the biggest thing I learned from Fuller House was to never talk bad about your girlfriend behind her back. The only good thing that came from the spinoff was that Steve and D.J. got married!

Now, with all of these Disney live-action remakes, all of them are pretty pointless, but the Walt Disney Company continues to make them because they feel like younger generations aren’t going to watch the original films. It’s like they think kids these days hate old films. But let me tell you something, just because you add cool technology and special effects to a film, it does not make the film special. Another downside to these live-action remakes is that some of them just use the same storyline from the original film, which is stupid. Then, some creators try to come up with different stories for these characters, either with the main character or the villain. Like seriously, what is up with these movies on Cruella de Vil and Maleficent? I want to hate the villains, not feel sorry for them, so stop giving them sad backstories to make the tables turn!

Moving onto reboots, I hate them because they ruin the legacy of the original series and again, the new series is not as good as the original. Blue’s Clues & You! (2019 – present), for example, may have its fans with the younger kids these days, but kids that grew up in the 2000s, like me, may think it’s awful. You may be asking this, why would I be watching a kid’s show? Because I want to make sure the reboot doesn’t destroy the original characters’ legacies. I did a small rant about my hatred of Blue’s Clues & You! in a previous post titled, My Trouble with CD Cases, so feel free to check that out! But what I hate about the reboot is that they repeated most of the original series’ episode plotlines, they gave the new host a cell phone, they changed the classic songs and made them more “hip,” they replaced Mailbox with email, and the new host doesn’t capture the same quirkiness and likeability factor that the original hosts brought to Blue’s Clues.

To make matters worse, there’s going to be a live-action Clifford the Big Red Dog film that was supposed to be released on September 17, but COVID-19 had other plans. While I thought the trailer was funny, I’m scared to see this film because Clifford is such a beloved character from my childhood, who enjoyed helping people on the original series. The new film, however, looks like it’s going to portray Clifford as a trouble maker struggling to adjust to his new life in the big city. Seriously, filmmakers can’t think of their own ideas for new films? We already had Cifford’s Really Big Movie (2004), which was supposed to be the series finale because John Ritter, the voice of Clifford, died five months before the film was released in theaters. Apparently, there’s also a reboot of Clifford the Big Red Dog (2019 – present), which I had no idea existed, but I’m sure Clifford’s Puppy Days (2003 – 2006) was better!

I can also talk about why I feel like modernization is ruining society, but that’s for another time. To summarize it all up, reboots, spinoffs, and remakes are pointless because they’re not as good as the original movies/series they are based on, it ruins these classic characters’ legacies, and it proves that creators are getting lazy and running out of good ideas for entertainment. Besides, look at American Idol (2002 – 2016 and 2018 – present), the longer a show goes on, the worse it gets! I don’t want to end this post on a sour note, so I’ll end it by saying that I’m grateful to have grown up with such wonderful classic shows/movies because they made me who I am today. Heck, I got my sarcasm from Full House!

Let me know in the comments below what you think of all these remakes, reboots, and spin offs of such classic childhood shows/films!

Take care and see ya real soon!

Lana